Neckwear



May 25, 1937. c. A. WHITING NECKWEAR Filed Oct. 22, 1935 INVENTOR MQ- BY Pan/ml Suds A ORNEY5 Patented May 25, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE NECKWEAR Massachusetts Application October 22, 1935, Serial No. 46,057

7 Claims.

This invention relates to neckties of the type which includes a knot made up in permanent form, and is directed to the provision of a novel necktie of this type which may be readily assembled at a low cost, and which is of durable construction and attractive appearance by reason of its being made of metallic mesh of the kind commonly known as fishscale mesh.

Fishscale mesh isa mesh consisting of rows of cruciform links and alternating rows of rings, each of the cruciform links having its arms bent inwardly around the four rings adjacent to it. Mesh of this type is characterized in that it is flexible only to a certain degree depending on the size of the links and the manner in which their arms are bent around the rings, and a relatively large force must be applied to the mesh to crease it as compared with the force necessary to crease the ordinary cloth fabric. Because of this limited flexibility of the mesh, it has the property of retaining a substantially fiat form over narrow areas of its surface even when the areas are subjected to a considerable flexing force, but once the mesh is creased it will retain the crease until the rings lying at the fold are rebent into their original form.

The present invention involves recognition-of these characteristics of fishscale mesh as manufactured, and the provision of a necktie of such a construction that these characteristics are used to great advantage in affording a novel and attractive appearance to the necktie and in enabling its parts to be assembled at a low cost. In addition, the invention contemplates certain novel features of construction which give to the necktie a smooth and tailored appearance and provide it with form retaining properties which are not present in other neckties.

In the new necktie, the part corresponding to the knot includes a forming member, and a metal mesh covering folded around the member to form a knot-like body. The lateral edges of the covering extend along the rear of the body and may be conveniently secured by spaced metal rings interlinked with rings in the mesh. The flap of the tie is made of an elongated sheet of metal mesh, the upper end of which has its sides folded across the front of the flap and doubled back with the folds creased from the top along divergent lines. The end of the flap thus folded is fastened to the lower part of the knot covering with its upper edge lying inside the covering, the fastening being preferably effected by means of spaced metal rings extending through the mesh of the flap and interlinked with the rings forming the lower edge of the knot covering. Connected to the top of the covering are suitable means for holding the knot body and flap to the neck of the wearer.

In order to give the necktie a tailored appearance and to prevent the folds beneath the knot from assuming too large proportions, it is desirable to make the flap of reduced width at its upper end. One way of accomplishing this is to make oblique cuts along the upper sides of the strip of metal mesh forming the flap, but this is objectionable for the reason that it results in breaking the continuity of the rows of links along the sides of the flap, thereby giving the edges a roughened appearance. To provide for the narrowing of the flap at the top without detracting from the appearance of the tie, I prefer to make the flap of a specially constructed sheet of mesh in which'a plurality of the rows of links extending lengthwise of the flap near the middle are terminated at spaced points near the upper end of the flap. With this construction, the flap is tapered toward the top without breaking up the rows of links along the edges, the links at the sides of the flap extending in continuous rows up the entire length thereof to form smooth edges gradually converging toward the knot.

It will be apparent that the new tie is made up of only a few simple parts which may be readily assembled without the usual stitching operation, the metal rings being sufficient to hold the parts securely in position. By folding the top of the flap in the manner described, it presents a pair of fiat narrow surfaces below the knot which extend divergently downward for a short distance along the sides of the flap, thus giving the tie a distinctive and pleasing appearance. The flap will retain the fiat surfaces thus formed under severe wear because of their narrow proportions and the limited flexibility of the mesh referred to. If desired, each side of the flap may be folded inwardly and creased along a continuous row of links to form a hem, and when the hem is thus formed it will retain its fold without stitching or other means to secure it by reason of the crease-retaining properties of the mesh.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred form of the new necktie;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the knot covering shown in Fig. 51;

Fig. 3 is a detail view of the front of the flap;

Fig. 4 is a rear View of the knot body with the covering broken away in part;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 55 of Fig. 4;

Fig. '6 is an enlarged section on the line 66 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 7 is a detail View of a piece of fishscale mesh showing the back thereof.

Referring to the drawing, Fig. 7 illustrates a piece of fishscale mesh showing the manner in which the cruciform links iii are assembled. These links are arranged in rows and each row lies between rows of rings I l, the arms l2 of each link being bent around the four rings adjacent to it with their ends overlying the rear face of the link, whereby the back of the mesh presents a rough surface. The front of the mesh, however, as shown in Fig. 3, has a smooth surface for the reason that only the faces of the links are exposed. It will be apparent that the flexibility of the mesh depends primarily on how well the ends of the arms I2 are carried around the rings H. In order tocrease the mesh it is necessary to bend the rings ll connecting the rows of links.

In Figs. 1 to 6 of the drawing, the numeral !3 designates a knot-like body comprising a forming member is, preferably made of a resilient material, and a covering H) of fishscale mesh which is folded around the forming member with its smooth surface on the outside. The covering [5, as shown particularly in Fig. 2, is provided with side extensions [6 and a lip H at the top. The side extensions are folded around the forming member it and secured at the back thereof by means of metal rings is connected between their opposite edges, while the lip I! is folded over the top of the forming member and fastened in back by means of rings it which pass through the end of the lip and interlink with rings in the mesh of the side extensions. A neck band i9 passes through the loop formed in back of the forming member by the lip I7 and is fastened to the covering by rings 2! The neck band is preferably made of a strip of fishscale mesh having its sides doubled over with the smooth surface outside, the ends of the strip being provided with suitable connecting means 21 Extending downwardly from the lower edge of the knot i3 is a flap 22 made of a single thickness fishscale mesh, the smooth surface of the flap coinciding with the front of the knot. The mesh of the flap, as shown in detail in Fig. 3, is of a special construction in which a plurality of the rows of links is extending along the flap near the middle are terminated near the upper end of the flap at spaced points 23, thereby causing the flap to taper gradually toward the top. A hem 24 is provided on each side of the flap by folding the edge inwardly and creasing the fold along a continuous row of links. Preferably, the bottom of the flap is out in a V -shape form.

In connecting the flap to the knot I3, it is first folded and creased along lines 25 diverging slightly from the top, as shown particularly in Fig. 3. The sides are then doubled back and creased along lines 26 which diverge from the top at a greater angle than the lines 25, thereby forming a pair of flat divergent surfaces 21 extending downwardly for a short distance below the top of the flap. A piece of wire 28 may be looped through the folds at the top of the flap to hold the folds together. The narrowed upper edge of the flap is inserted in the opening at the bottom of the knot covering l5, and the flap is secured in this position by means of metal rings 29 which pass through the mesh near the top of the flap and interlink with the rings form ing the lower edge of the knot covering.

With this construction, it will be observed that the knot body l3 and the fiap 22 of the necktie may be made up in their completed forms as separate units before theyare connected together, since each of the parts will retain its form independently of the other, and by assembling the necktie in this manner its manufacture may be greatly simplified. The hems 22s on the sides of the fiap serve not only to give the edges a smooth and finished appearance, but also to stiffen the fiat surfaces 2! which diverge along the sides of the flap from the bottom of the knot. By reason of the construction of the mesh in the flap referred to, the fiap is made to gradually narrow toward the top without breaking the continuity of the rows of links along the edges thereof, these rows extending in a continuous line to the top of the fiap, as shown in Fig. 3. The metal rings 2%] at the lower edge of the knot covering secure the fiap firmly and inconspicuously to the knot body l3, allowing the folds in the fiap to hang freely in the manner of the folds in a handtied necktie.

While I have described and illustrated herein the preferred form or" my invention, it is to be understood that the invention may be embodied in constructions differing from that described While retaining its distinctive features. The individual links of the fishscale mesh may be stamped with an ornamental design if desired, and the mesh may be artificially colored or it may be used with its natural metallic color.

I claim:

1. A necktie comprising a forming member, a metal mesh covering folded around said member to form a knot-like body and with its lateral edges lying at the rear of the body, an elongated metal mesh flap secured at one end to the lower portion of said covering with its upper edge lying inside the covering, the upper end of said flap having its sides folded across the front of the flap and doubled back to form a pair of fiat surfaces extending divergently downward from the lower end of said body, and means connected to the upper portion of said covering for holding said body and fiap on the neck of the wearer.

2. A necktie comprising a forming member, a metal mesh covering folded around said member to form a knot-like body and with its lateral edges lying at the rear of the body, an elongated metal mesh fiap secured at one end to the lower portion of said covering with its upper edge lying inside the covering, said flap being of gradually narrowing width at its upper end and having its lateral edges formed by a continuous row of links extending from substantially the bottom to the top of the flap, and means connected to the upper portion of said covering for holding said body and fiap on the neck of the wearer.

3. A necktie comprising a forming member, a metal mesh covering folded around said member to form a knot-like body and with its lateral edges lying at the rear of the body, an elongated flap secured at one end to the lower portion of said covering with its upper edge lying inside the covering, said fiap consisting of metal mesh fabric having continuous adjacent rows of links extending lengthwise of the flap and with a plurality of said rows intermediate the sides of the flap terminating at spaced points below the top of the fiap, whereby said flap narrows gradually toward the top thereof, and means connected to the upper portion of said covering for holding said body and flap on the neck of the wearer.

4. A necktie comprising a forming member, a metal mesh covering folded around said member to form a knot-like body and with its lateral edges lying at the rear of the body, an elongated metal mesh flap secured at one end to the lower portion of said covering with its upper edge lying inside the covering, a lip on the front of said covering extending over the top of the body and secured at its end to the outer face of said covering adjacent the lateral edges thereof to form a loop outside of the covering below the top thereof, and a neck band extending through said loop.

5. A necktie comprising a resilient forming member, a covering folded around said member to form a knot-like body, said covering being made of metal mesh consisting of rows of cruciform links and rows of rings with each ring engaged by the bent arms of a plurality of the cruciform links, an elongated flap made of metal mesh similar to said covering, means for securing one end of said flap to the covering consisting of a plurality of spaced metal rings, each extending through a ring of said flap and one of the rings forming the lower edge of said covering, and a neck band connected to the upper portion of said covering.

6. A necktie comprising a forming member, a

metal mesh covering folded around said member to form a knot-like body and with its lateral edges secured at the rear of the body, a metal mesh flap secured at one end to the lower part of said covering with its upper edge lying inside the covering,

said flap being of gradually narrowing width at the top and having each side thereof folded inwardly and creased along a continuous row of links to form a hem extending to the top of the flap, and means connected to the upper portion of said covering for holding said knot and flap to the neck of the wearer.

7. A necktie comprising a forming member, a metal mesh covering folded around said member to form a knot-like body and with its lateral edges lying at the rear of the body, an elongated metal mesh flap secured at one end to the lower portion of said covering with its upper edge lying inside the covering, the upper end of said flap having its sides folded across the front of the flap and doubled back to form a pair of flat surfaces eX- tending divergently downward from the lower end of said body, means extending through the mesh near the top of said flap for holding the folds together, and means connected to the upper portion of said covering for holding said knot body and flap to the neck of the wearer.

CHARLES A. WHITING. 

